Jumanji

Synopsis

Roll the dice and unleash the excitement!

When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's been trapped inside the game for 26 years -- into their living room. Alan's only hope for freedom is to finish the game, which proves risky as all three find themselves running from giant rhinoceroses, evil monkeys and other terrifying creatures.

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Jumanji could possibly be read as a post-modern reinvention of the Peter Pan story. All the pieces are there. A boy not ready to grow up and accept adult responsibility escapes to a mythical world without rules or boundaries, and upon returning to the world in the form of a man he must take action against Van Pelt, a man-hunter from the jungles of Jumanji who has been following him; a manifested representation of the bully father figure that he imagined for himself and ran from a child (also played by the same actor, Jonathan Hyde, a la Captain Hook). The mythical jungle of Jumanji is one that is never truly seen, but through the way in which Alan speaks…

A supernatural board game causes mayhem through time whenever some unsuspected kids try to play it. Will the latest batch of players manage to finish it before it destroys a small New Hampshire town?

Wonderful kids flick that can be enjoyed equally by adults thanks to a playful script, energetic direction and a manic performance by the late Robin Williams. The movie never takes itself too seriously and despite having some dramatic moments it doesn't linger too much on them, thus avoiding the pitfall of cheesy melodrama. The special effects were glaringly fake even back in the 90's but in the context of this particular effort, which is essentially a live-action cartoon, they work. They certainly help in preventing the…

The Good:When I was a kid, I didn't play with toys much—I watched movies. I was obssessed. I remember I had one of those TV/VCR combos in my room as well a huge—and I mean huge—collection of VHS tapes. I must have owned every family movie ever released on that format. I especially loved collecting all those Disney films that came in white clamshell cases. (Remember those?) I often even bought blank cassettes to record my favorite shows, Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, and later on, Beast Wars. I sometimes also stayed up at night to record some horror films I couldn't buy. But out of all the VHS tapes I owned, there…

Jumanji is a children's version of a horror movie in every sense of word, and even more surprising than that: it's actually got a strong emotional core, anchored by Robin Williams' terrific performance. I loved this movie as a kid, because unlike lots of other children's entertainment, it actually made me FEEL things like fear and sadness.

As I was watching this again today, it really struck me how the passage of time can change your views on a film - for the better, or for the worse. I like Jumanji now a lot more than I did back when I was, say, ten - back then I found the story got boring once you got used to how the game works, I thought Robin Williams was a bad actor, and I pretty much preferred the much worse Zathura (basically the exact same storyline just in space).

The first thing that hit me was how good the use of sound is. Take the scene where the two children first find the board game in the attic -…

While the argument could be made that it's silly and dated by today's standards, Jumanji makes for a hugely enjoyable fantasy film featuring strong dramatic and comedic moments, fun characters, great performances (especially from the late Robin Williams), and effects that, while cheesy, are incredibly fun to watch.

I had always caught bits and pieces of this movie on TV when I was a kid. Upon popping the DVD in, I had never realized how much I missed. The first 15 minutes lay down background information that, while not important, does help the movie make a tiny bit more sense.

The special effects feel very dated, but the message the movie has really does make up for any visual shortcomings it might have.

I like to think that we've all been young Alan Parrish before, and the movies ability to resolve his conflict is why it is as good as it is. Seeing all the shenanigans come out of the game is nice for kids and all, but the emotional depth is what kept me invested.

I’m either getting really old or I have never seen the ending of Jumanji before, because I know I’ve watched this countless times prior to this viewing, but everything that happens once they return back to the house to finish a game was like watching something for the first time. Like I don’t remember the monsoon. I don’t remember the game ending. I don’t remember the flashforward. It was such a weird feeling.

With that aside, this is just so much fun. I mean what 90s kid didn’t fantasize about playing a board game that came to life. That was before the super popularity of video games, and this is just a blast from start to finish. This was…